>> Counterpoint
bio: Counterpoint Records was formed in the winter of 1996 by record dealer/dj, Jake Behnan & jazz dj, Russ Dewbury. After years of supplying vinyl rareties to collectors & dj's around the world via his 'Hot Biscuit' mail order service, Jake decided it was time to start reissuing hard to find tunes to the insatiable rare groove scene.
Counterpoint's first release was the reissue of US jazz-funk legend, Webster Lewis' first ever LP. The record in question was over 25 years old and previously not released outside of Norway. Perhaps not the most obvious way to launch a label, but the discovery of Webster Lewis' 'Live At Club 7' LP was one gem that was in that 'holy grail' league of rare grooves. This was followed by Marc Moulin's electronic/fusion masterpiece, 'Sam Suffy' and by the anthology of his 'Placebo Sessions' album. These reissues have earned us cult status and have become collectors items in their own right as they have long been deleted!
As the record industry started looking to the compilation format to stave off the looming recession, we released a series of soul/jazz albums, focusing on the independent labels of the 70's/80's. Compiled by Jake & Russ, and based around dancefloor jazz, Latin and funk tracks that had never appeared on other legit compilations, 'Freedom Time' & 'Jazz Bizniz' gave the tired compilation market a kick up the arse.
'Jazz Bizniz 2' & 3' flipped the script with the introduction of new independent artists, balanced next to the old skool. Around this time, we heard about a stunning live soul/jazz band from Baltimore called Fertile Ground. On one of his many crate diggin trips to the States, Jake went to check out FG live and decided to sign them as the first artist for Counterpoint. So far they have released 3 groundbreaking albums for us ('Perception', 'Seasons Change' & 'Remixed').
Over 20 tracks by Fertile Ground have been licensed for compilations all over the world. Their tracks have been remixed by some of the most cutting-edge producers on the nu-jazz, broken beat and house scene, including Kaidi Tatham, Waiwan, Jazztronik, Seiji and Oneness Of Two.
As more nu-jazz artists started to make waves around the underground club scene, we got Tokyo's Jazztronik to drop his European debut, 'Inner Flight'.
Always on the lookout for independent sounds, Jake was introduced the vast catalogue of Harlem's cult disco & boogie label, P & P records by fellow dealer/dj, Nick The Record. This resulted in the widely acclaimed 'Disco Juice' & Disco Juice 2', based around the hard to find Patrick Adams & Peter Brown produced 12" releases from the late 70's & early 80's.
After the depature of Russ Dewbury from the label to concentrate on his dj career and productions with Mr Hermano's Ben Mitchell (Mitchell & Dewbury).
Jake has since operated the label at Counterpoint's new hq in Hastings, East Sussex. Releasing the critically acclaimed 'Afrika Underground' compilation which focused on the jazz & fusion scene in South Africa under apartheid.
This was followed by 'Jazz Bizniz 3' which was described by Gilles Peterson as one of the best compilations released anywhere!
Recently Counterpoint has been scouting for new talent to complement it's stellar compilations. Look out for new music from Belgium's David Borsu, who's best known in the UK for remixing Marc Moulin's 'Into The Dark' for Blue Note records and Perry Hemus' 'Rhodesmode'. Also look out for new music from Sheffield's 'psalmelodic' soul/jazz band, dwh (deeperwiderhigher).
Their first ep on Counterpoint, 'Still Here' has recently been remixed by New York's deep house maestro, Antonio Ocasio who will also be joining us for one of his 'Tribal Winds' jams...
